Shake It Off
Shake It Off is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for her fifth studio album, 1989 (2014). Written by Swift, Max Martin and Shellback, it is an uptempo pop track and features a departure from Swift's earlier country pop musical style. "Shake It Off" is the sixth track on the album and serves as the lead single. The song premiered during a Yahoo! live stream session on August 18, 2014; its music video was also released the same day. Several hours later, the song was made available for digital download. "Shake It Off" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who praised its musical style. Meanwhile, the music video received mixed reception, and was additionally criticized for a scene which involved twerking. "Shake It Off" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending September 6, 2014, becoming Swift's second number-one single in the United States and the 22nd song to debut at number one in the chart's history. The song won Favorite Song at the 2015 People's Choice Awards, and also received nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Chart performance A day following its impact on US radio stations, "Shake It Off" gained an audience of nine million. The song debuted at 45 on the Billboard Radio Songs chart with 29 million in all-format audience. It debuted on the Mainstream Top 40 chart at number 12, tying it with Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" (1993) as the highest chart debut. "Shake It Off" became her third number-one song there, following her 2013 hit "I Knew You Were Trouble", which remained No. 1 for seven consecutive weeks. The single debuted at number nine on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart, becoming the highest debut single on the chart. On its sixth week, the song became her second No. 1 on the Adult Top 40 chart since her 2013 hit "I Knew You Were Trouble", tying it with Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" (1996) as the fastest song to reach number 1 in just six weeks. The song debuted at number 58 on the Country Airplay chart, though only two country stations played the song more than four times. It spent only one week on the chart. Billboard noted that its presence on the chart was unusual due to its sound and Swift's acknowledged transition from country to pop music. On the Radio Songs chart, the song became Swift's third number-one song there, following her 2013 hit "I Knew You Were Trouble". "Shake It Off" has spent four non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart. "Shake It Off" debuted atop the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the 22nd song to do so. It produced first-week digital sales of 544,000 units for the chart issue dated September 6, 2014, the largest debut sales week for a single of 2014, and the fourth overall, following Flo Rida's "Right Round", Swift's "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" and Katy Perry's "Roar". During that week, "Shake It Off" additionally garnered 18.4 million streams and 71 million airplay audiences. The song remained at number one for the second week selling 355,000 copies. "Shake It Off" then dropped down to number two, beneath Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass", where it stayed for eight consecutive weeks, before returning to number one on November 15, 2014, when 1989 was released and debuted at number one the same week. In total, "Shake It Off" spent 24 non-consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, in which four were spent at number one, thus becoming Swift's longest-running single in the top 10. The song was replaced at number one by "Blank Space", the second single from 1989, thus making Swift the first female artist to replace herself at the top spot in the 56-year history of the Hot 100. The song has became the #13 song of 2014 on Billboard Year End Chart. The song was certified 4X platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on November 20, 2014. The song became the eighth best-selling song of 2014 in the United States with 3.43 million copies sold in that year, and as of February 2015, the song has sold over 4,000,000 copies in the United States. Elsewhere in North America, "Shake It Off" became Swift's third number one in Canada selling 48,000 copies in its first week, following "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together", after debuting at number one; it is her third song to do so, tying her with Eminem and Katy Perry for the most songs to debut at number one on the chart. By the year's end, it had sold 341,000 copies in Canada. The song had also seen success in Europe. In the United Kingdom, "Shake It Off" became Swift's sixth top 10 when the song debuted at number four on August 30, 2014. After nine weeks on the chart, "Shake It Off" reached number two, tying with "Love Story" and "I Knew You Were Trouble" as her highest-charting single in the country. It sold 570,000 copies in the UK by 20 November 2014, and it became the eleventh best-selling song of 2014 in the UK. In Ireland, the song jumped at number three on its second week after debuting at number 14, became Swift's fifth top ten. In France, "Shake It Off" peaked at number six, her highest-charting single in the country to date (as well as her first top-10). In Australia, it debuted at number five on the Australian Singles Chart, the highest debut of the week, and on its second week it rose to the number-one spot, making it Swift's second single to top the chart after her 2009 hit "Love Story". "Shake It Off" spent a third week at No. 1 on the Australian Singles Chart making Swift's longest run on Australia since "Love Story". The single has been certified 5× Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipments of over 350,000 copies. In New Zealand, it debuted at number two, the highest debut of the week, and on its second week it rose to the number-one spot, making it Swift's second single to top the chart after her 2012 hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". On its fifth week "Shake It Off" spent two non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the New Zealand Singles Chart making Swift's longest run on New Zealand since "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together". Critical reception "Shake It Off" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Lipshutz wrote that Swift "proves why she belongs among pop's queen bees: As you may have guessed, the song sounds like a surefire hit". Tarynn Law from The 405 praised the track and characterized the song's hook as "poppy" and "catchy". Halperin gave the song a positive review, describing it as "pop-tastic." Alice Vincent from The Daily Telegraph also positively reviewed the song, noting it as "a catchy, upbeat track." The Guardian‍‍ '‍s Molly Fitzpatrick also found that the song is catchy but does not show off Swift's writing talent. The Los Angeles Times‍‍ '‍s critic Randall Roberts called the song "a perfect pop confection" however noting it "presents an artist gunning for sly transgression but instead landing on tone-deaf, self-absorbed teen regression, with music to match the vibe." Writing for The Daily Beast, Kevin Fallon found "this new direction of her career is woefully depressing." While he admitted "Shake It Off" is "a great pop song", he said it is "the least musically interesting song that Swift has done" and "it's not personal, at least not in the ways we expect from a Taylor Swift song." Fallon deplored Swift's transition to pop in which he felt she "abandoned her sound" in the process. AllMusic music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine described it as "an ebullient dance-pop throwback". It received nominations for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 57th Grammy Awards. In January 2015, The Village Voice named "Shake It Off" the fourth-best song of 2014 in their annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll, with Swift's following single "Blank Space" at number three on the same poll. Lyrics Category:1989 Singles